'N' Habitat: Belltown, a modular apartment building under construction at 3rd Avenue and Bell Street, is shown in this artist's rendering.

'N' Habitat: Belltown, a modular apartment building under construction at 3rd Avenue and Bell Street, is shown in this artist's rendering.

Photo: Daly Partners

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The site of 'N' Habitat: Belltown, a modular apartment building under construction at 3rd Avenue and Bell Street, is shown on Tuesday, Aug. 20, 2013.

The site of 'N' Habitat: Belltown, a modular apartment building under construction at 3rd Avenue and Bell Street, is shown on Tuesday, Aug. 20, 2013.

Photo: Aubrey Cohen, Seattlepi.com

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The exterior of a model unit for 'N' Habitat: Belltown, a modular apartment building under construction at 3rd Avenue and Bell Street, is shown on Tuesday, Aug. 20, 2013.

The exterior of a model unit for 'N' Habitat: Belltown, a modular apartment building under construction at 3rd Avenue and Bell Street, is shown on Tuesday, Aug. 20, 2013.

Photo: Aubrey Cohen, Seattlepi.com

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The living room of a model unit for 'N' Habitat: Belltown, a modular apartment building under construction at 3rd Avenue and Bell Street, is shown on Tuesday, Aug. 20, 2013.

The living room of a model unit for 'N' Habitat: Belltown, a modular apartment building under construction at 3rd Avenue and Bell Street, is shown on Tuesday, Aug. 20, 2013.

Photo: Aubrey Cohen, Seattlepi.com

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The foldaway bed in the "Abodian Wall" of a model unit for 'N' Habitat: Belltown, a modular apartment building under construction at 3rd Avenue and Bell Street, is shown on Tuesday, Aug. 20, 2013.

The foldaway bed in the "Abodian Wall" of a model unit for 'N' Habitat: Belltown, a modular apartment building under construction at 3rd Avenue and Bell Street, is shown on Tuesday, Aug. 20, 2013.

Photo: Aubrey Cohen, Seattlepi.com

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The kitchen of a model unit for 'N' Habitat: Belltown, a modular apartment building under construction at 3rd Avenue and Bell Street, is shown on Tuesday, Aug. 20, 2013.

The kitchen of a model unit for 'N' Habitat: Belltown, a modular apartment building under construction at 3rd Avenue and Bell Street, is shown on Tuesday, Aug. 20, 2013.

Photo: Aubrey Cohen, Seattlepi.com

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The desk/counter in the "Abodian Wall" of a model unit for 'N' Habitat: Belltown, a modular apartment building under construction at 3rd Avenue and Bell Street, is shown on Tuesday, Aug. 20, 2013.

The desk/counter in the "Abodian Wall" of a model unit for 'N' Habitat: Belltown, a modular apartment building under construction at 3rd Avenue and Bell Street, is shown on Tuesday, Aug. 20, 2013.

Photo: Aubrey Cohen, Seattlepi.com

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The entry of a model unit for 'N' Habitat: Belltown, a modular apartment building under construction at 3rd Avenue and Bell Street, is shown on Tuesday, Aug. 20, 2013.

The entry of a model unit for 'N' Habitat: Belltown, a modular apartment building under construction at 3rd Avenue and Bell Street, is shown on Tuesday, Aug. 20, 2013.

Photo: Aubrey Cohen, Seattlepi.com

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The bathroom of a model unit for 'N' Habitat: Belltown, a modular apartment building under construction at 3rd Avenue and Bell Street, is shown on Tuesday, Aug. 20, 2013.

The bathroom of a model unit for 'N' Habitat: Belltown, a modular apartment building under construction at 3rd Avenue and Bell Street, is shown on Tuesday, Aug. 20, 2013.

Photo: Aubrey Cohen, Seattlepi.com

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The exterior of a model unit for 'N' Habitat: Belltown, a modular apartment building under construction at 3rd Avenue and Bell Street, is shown on Tuesday, Aug. 20, 2013.

The exterior of a model unit for 'N' Habitat: Belltown, a modular apartment building under construction at 3rd Avenue and Bell Street, is shown on Tuesday, Aug. 20, 2013.

Photo: Aubrey Cohen, Seattlepi.com

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Developer building Lego-like apartments in Belltown

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While workers erect the base of a new Belltown apartment building, the apartments themselves are being assembled in a factory in Klamath Falls, Ore.

Some time in the next couple of months, they'll arrive by truck, complete with plumbing, wiring, fixtures, cabinets, appliances and floor coverings.

"When the units show up, we like to say everything except the shower curtain and the toilet paper's in place," Dale Sperling, president and CEO of apartment maker OneBuild, said Tuesday at Third Avenue and Bell Street, site of the new 7½-story, 49-unit 'N' Habitat: Belltown building.

Building the units in a factory is faster and more efficient than conventional construction, and eliminates weather uncertainty, he added. Each unit takes 10 to 11 days to build.

The apartments are scheduled to show up over two weekends in September or October, after the foundation and commercial ground level of the building are done.

"We'll be setting one box per hour with a big crane," Sperling said. They'll be fastened together with steel straps.

All told, construction will take six to seven months, half the time of a conventional building, according to Sperling.

Is it cheaper?

"All costs included, considering time, yes," Sperling said. "Time equates to risk, and the shorter you can shorten the time, the less risk there is."

Developer Daly Partners is already leasing the apartments, which range from 422-square-foot studios to 752-square-foot two-story lofts. Rents range from $1,175 to $2,100 a month. The model unit across the street is an actual apartment from OneBuild.

Inside, the apartments feature an "Abodian Wall" -- a seven-foot partition that includes a foldaway bed and clothes storage on one side, facing the living room, and a foldaway desk/counter and more storage on the other, in the kitchen.

"We believe the future of in-city living is in human-scale, flexibile urban spaces with optimum functionality," Daly Partners managing member Jim Daly said in a news release.

The building will have no parking, but will include on-site Zipcars and a bike storage area with four repair stations, pumps and work areas. Most units will have private terraces and balconies. The building also features a roof deck with a community space.